Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo are urgently searching for around 100 people believed to have been in contact with victims of the deadly Ebola virus, the government said on Friday.
”We are looking for all people who may have been in contact with the sick who are presenting symptoms of Ebola or of Shigellose,” said DRC Secretary General of Health Benoit Kebelo.
The DRC is fighting to contain an outbreak of Ebola, a haemorrhagic fever that kills 50% to 90% of those it infects, which the government fears may have claimed more than 160 lives since April.
At the same time, the Shigella strand of infectious dysentery, which is treatable by antibiotics, has also surfaced and could be responsible for some of the deaths.
”We’re looking for around 100 people, especially in the Kampungu zone,” Kebelo said, referring to the epicentre of the two epidemics, located about 300km from the provincial capital of Kananga.
He emphasised that since the outbreaks were first detected at the end of April only five cases of Ebola and one of Shigella had been formally confirmed by international laboratories.
The latest suspected toll, however, stands at 169 deaths out of 376 cases, Kebelo said.
”You must approach these numbers with caution. There are symptoms that could correspond to other illnesses and we don’t know yet what the true scope of Ebola or Shigella is,” he warned. – Sapa-AFP